I see the commentary from these game being different from what I watched. Here is what I think will be said about the game: "US gets lucky on 2 goals against the run of play. Could have been 6-2 had it not been for Howard, Merica's defense was terrible, everyone sucks."

I don't think it was that bad. I thought possession was fairly balanced, and at times we controlled possession. We turned the ball over an ungodly amount which I am not sure if that is a talent issue or a communication/meshing issue or a combination of both. I certainly don't think we played as poorly as Taylor seemed to think we did, or that the Russians played that much better than we did. Dunno, in the end it is a meaningless friendly.

Jozy didn't start performing less than satisfactory until the midway through the second half. He did well to hold up play and create possession when we were struggling in that department. He really should have had an assist on the fantastic cut-back pass, only for Jermaine Jones to hit it to Moscow.

Once again I have to reiterate this point. Jozy Altidore scores goals at AZ Alkmaar, because his midfielders put him in good positions. He only really scuffed the one through ball, resulting in a clear chance, with a bad touch.

This is where Landon Donovan is so necessary. Robbie Keane has like 5 goals in the MLS playoffs alone, most of them from great service from LD. When Jozy scored a hattrick for us against Trinidad, every goal was assisted by Donovan.

I've seen Jozy play worse for the u.s. before so I'm ok with his performance today. We are in great need of another cb. Goodson is flat out trash with no redeeming qualities. I want to see Omar soon. Hell give gooch another shot.

quote:Once again I have to reiterate this point. Jozy Altidore scores goals at AZ Alkmaar, because his midfielders put him in good positions

I know. If you look at the arguments back in the day, you'll see that when Jozy first started heating up last year at AZ I said that I wish we could have his teammates.

He was starved of service today, there's no doubt about that.That bull shite will continue to happen if Jurgen insists on Bradley/Jones/Williams. He didn't have a good match, though. He played better than Jermaine Jones by a fair margin, but he played poorly.

Bradley is so fricking good. He made several Toureesque runs out of midfield today that probably result in goals or at least solid chances if Jones and Altidore would've hade decent touches.

Altidore didn't play great but you can see his skill level at AZ Alkmaar he just needs to get more PT, and have the confidence that Jurgy won't drop him after one screwup. Would love to see him get a run of games with Dempsey, Donovan, and Zusi in the lineup.

The pk call was the right call i think. Horrible defense by not paying attention to the quick take and then Goodson needlessly going after the ball. However, the initial foul call that led to the free kick was awful. The Russian player was on the ground and kicked out at 3 different US players and then Johnson did a perfect job of shielding the ball and got called for it

quote:Once again though, we rely on Tim Howard to make spectacular saves far too often.

We say this after every game. But isn't that what he is paid to do? He is arguably our best player at his position. It's not like he plays out of his mind or above his skill level when he puts on the US jersey right? He is just really good. In most soccer games the keeper is asked to make plays. Outside of a complete domination the goalie has to produce saves when called upon.